Book 2: Chapter 331
(TL: Although this chapter might also seem like filler, there is main storyline content in it which kind of explains the reason for these fillers. I’d advise you not to skip it after reading a few lines.)
He was able to get to know Frey.
He was happy.
This was completely different from his relationships in society which were built on pretenses and checks.
For the first ti in a very long while, Peran, who had gained a private friend, had a bright, honest smile.
Frey didn’t lower himself. Nor did he place Peran in an elevated position.
It was an equal relationship, and they talked to each other as equals.
It was a type of friendship that Peran had admired and longed for.
After receiving Frey’s definite reply that he would visit his house later, Peran’s heart fluttered like a little boy eagerly anticipating a picnic.
He was so excited that he even forgot about his engagent to Sonia Aquarid, his fiancee. But when he heard that she had t Frey, a smile unconsciously stretched across his lips as she praised him.
The sight of Frey being insulted by the nobles at his ball enraged him.
…He even told him about the wounds that he refused to tell his father.
And,
—I want to maintain a relationship as equals.
Of course, such a relationship was not necessarily determined by the strength of the parties. He hadn’t beco his friend for that reason either, but it seed that Frey was worried about his thoughts.
If the gap between them was to beco wider than it already was, then it wouldn’t be easy for them to think that the other understood them better than anyone else.
Peran felt like sothing was piercing his insides.
That was right. Peran also wanted to maintain a relationship as equals.
Even if their friendship wasn’t determined by their strength, Peran still had his own pride.
If they were both Wizards, but his strength fell far below Frey’s, then he wouldn’t be able to accept it.
That was why he needed to be strong.
To be honest with himself, and proud of himself.
Peran no longer felt that life had no aning. The boredom that had begun to settle in his mind also disappeared. The trauma of the past was dismissed as a trivial matter. Even if his Master was to appear in front of him again, Peran felt that he could face him with a smile.
Magicology beca fun for him once again.
His talent, which had stagnated for a while, blood once again, and it felt like a warm spring breeze was blowing in his heart.
The darkness that had settled on his mind disappeared without a trace.
And as it did, Peran couldn’t help but regret the years he’d spent idly. He should have continued to persevere, but he hadn’t.
But regretting the past wouldn’t change anything.
All that mattered now was the present.
‘I have to beco strong.’
He wanted to concentrate fully on magicology.
When he had this thought, Peran couldn’t help but feel that everything around him was burdenso.
Peran didn’t waste any ti. Because he was filled with determination and drive.
After submitting his request for a leave of absence to the academy, he imdiately headed for the Lava Field in the south.
It was one of the places with the greatest abundance of natural mana on the continent, and Shepard had said it was the best training place as long as one had patience, determination, and concentration.
‘…at least three years.’
He had already taken all the necessary steps to reach 6-stars.
But Peran wasn’t satisfied with just becoming a 6-star Wizard.
At that point, he was seriously aiming to reach 7-stars.
Archmage.
Peran wanted to reach the stage that only those chosen by magicology itself would be able to enter.
* * *
A long ti passed.
…It hadn’t been easy.
No, if he were to put aside his useless pride and speak honestly, he could only say that he was constantly filled with despair.
He didn’t know how to get to 7-stars.
“…hoo.”
Peran let out a sigh.
After arriving at the Lava Field, it had only taken him 2 months to advance to 6-stars. And after 6 months he was able to reach the great completion of that stage.
However, for the next 2 years and 4 months, he didn’t make any progress.
This didn’t an that there wasn’t any harvest.
In that ti, his mana had grown trendously. This was the result of spending 2 years and 4 months ditating in a place filled with natural mana.
However, he had reached his limit. He needed to take a break. He didn’t want to, but it felt like he would lose his mind if he continued to practice anymore.
That wasn’t the only reason.
He felt that, in order to get a clue about 7-stars, it would be better to not just focus on training.
So Peran returned to society.
—And learned that in the 3 years he had been training, many things had happened one after the other.
Demigods.
Extrely powerful beings, who had been controlling the world from the shadows, had suddenly appeared and wreaked havoc on the continent. As a result, nurous cities were wiped out completely, and the Circle had stopped avoiding the fight or ‘gathering power’, and had instead chosen all out war with the Demigods.
Peran couldn’t help but feel suffocated after learning all of this.
‘I had been training in a situation like this.’
He couldn’t help but shudder in self pity.
After all, one of the reasons why Peran was so desperate to beco strong was, in fact, to prepare for when he would have to fight the Demigods.
But now, the war had already ended.
It had ended in the Circle’s victory.
…However, many people had died.
The first thing Peran did was confirm the safety of his family. Fortunately, both Shepard and Lylia were unhard. (TL: Doesn’t he have his mother and two other younger brothers?)
The next thing he was concerned about was Frey.
“Father, did you hear anything about Frey?”
“…mm.”
Shepard narrowed his eyes for a mont before eventually shaking his head.
“I’m sorry. But I’m not entirely sure who you are talking about.”
“My friend, Frey Blake.”
“…Frey… Blake? Was there soone like that in the Blake Family?”
“Didn’t I invite him to the house before? You even had a face to face conversation with him.”
“…I’m sorry but I really don’t rember that.”
Shepard forgot soone that he’d personally t face to face?
That shouldn’t be possible.
At first, he wondered if Shepard was lying or playing a trick on him, but his expression of confusion seed genuine.
An extrely strange feeling filled Peran at that mont. Deciding to suppress his anxiety first, Peran began to inquire about Frey on his own.
“Who?”
“Frey Blake?”
“This is my first ti hearing that na.”
It was as if he had vanished into thin air.
No one seed to rember him anywhere.
No, it wasn’t just that no one could rember.
There was no record of Frey Blake even in the Westroad Academy’s register.
It was as if Frey Blake had completely vanished from the world.
“The Blake Family’s third son?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. The Blake Family only had two sons.”
“Well, it’s possible that there were so hidden illegitimate children.”
The Blake Family had fallen.
This was because it was revealed that the Family Head, Isaka, had been colluding with the Demigods.
Of course, none of that was really important to Peran.
“Ha, hahaha…”
He couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
What the hell was going on?
He was confused.
Everyone seed to have forgotten Frey Blake.
Then… Who did he rember?
What the hell was the Frey Blake that he’d t?
Was he a hallucination? A dream? Or had he already lost his mind a long ti ago…
“…that can’t be.”
Peran strongly denied it.
He was not crazy, he was not dreaming, and he was not mistaken.
That wasn’t possible.
Frey was real, he’d beco his friend, and they’d parted after promising to et again in the future.
Others might be deceived, but he couldn’t be.
Because he was Peran Jun.
And because the man called Frey Blake was the one who changed his life.
“…hasn’t Sir Peran been acting quite strange recently?”
He was certain.
“He’s been asking everyone if they know ‘Frey Blake’ like a crazy person.”
He had to be sowhere.
“Frey Blake? If it’s the Blake Family… that place was ruined during the ti of calamity.”
So he wouldn’t give up.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the na ‘Frey’ in that family.”
Ignoring the gossiping of the ignorant, he continued to look for clues.
“…there isn’t anyone like that, Peran.”
“Are you okay? N-, no. I’m not saying you’re weird, it’s just…”
“Why don’t you take so ti to relax? There’s a nice resort near the West Sea. Let’s go there together. I’m sure there would be a lot of good looking girls there too…”
His acquaintances were the sa as well.
“Older Brother, there is no such person. He doesn’t exist.”
“Are you alright? If you’re tired, you should get so rest.”
Even his family was no different.
Frey had disappeared from the mories of everyone except Peran.
And at this point, it felt like the entire world was laughing at him.
‘Accept it. Admit it. Everyone else couldn’t be wrong.’
‘If you go further than that, you will be treated like a crazy person.’
“…”
It couldn’t be said that the majority was always right. But this case far exceeded ‘the majority’.
There was only one person who couldn’t accept the truth that was given by the world.
So there was only one thing that Peran could do.
“I’m not crazy.”
He shook his head at the world.
…Maybe, Peran truly had beco crazy.
But he still couldn’t understand this situation.
So he decided to stubbornly persevere.
Fortunately, Peran was confident in his own stubbornness.
“I’m not weird.”
With a soft murmur, he looked up at the sky, at the entire world.
“It’s not that is weird, it’s you all.”
He would not give up.
He could not give up.
Frey was the man who changed his life.
If he could forget even him, if he couldn’t rember him, then he wouldn’t be able to lift his head when they t again.
He believed in himself.
He believed in the one who’d opened his eyes.
And that was why he would never forget.
…As if to laugh at the resolution he just made, Peran’s own mories began to fade the very next day.
It was incomparably strange.
Not to boast, but Peran knew that his mory and morisation skills were exceptional.
“Haha.”
But Peran didn’t feel despair.
Instead, this just proved his own suspicions.
Sothing was trying to erase Frey’s existence.
He didn’t know who or what it was, but in truth, it didn’t matter. Just realising its existence was the greatest harvest he could obtain at that mont.
Keeping notes was useless, so all Peran could do was do his best to always rember Frey.
It was possible that he’d already forgotten a few things, so he decided to constantly think and say the most important thing.
“I have a friend.”
A friend who was more amazing than anyone else.
…But if his murmuring was to beco a habit.
Peran didn’t know what would happen then.
(TL: While this was a fairly nice chapter, my only issue with it is the fact that Peran could rember Frey but Iris didn’t rember Lukas. But maybe there is a reason for that too, or maybe we’ll end up seeing Iris’ pov as well.)
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